1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and compositions for tenderizing and upgrading the sensory qualities of fresh red meat. More particularly, the present invention relates to injecting compositions into red meat in order to upgrade its quality, taste, and value.
2. The Background of the Invention
Agriculture in general, and meat production in particular, is presently suffering from very significant economic difficulties including high costs of production and generally deflated market prices for resulting agricultural products. Red meat production is particularly susceptible to these economic factors because red meat is one of the most expensive agricultural products to produce, especially if high quality red meat is desired.
In order to produce very high quality red meat, by current standards, it is necessary to feed the producing animal high quality feeds such as grains, dietary supplements, and other high cost components in order to produce a high quality meat product. In the event that the animal does not receive this high cost diet or is simply allowed to graze, a much poorer quality product is expected.
The rancher or red meat producer is thus faced with a dilemma. He can either go to the expense of producing high quality meat through the use of high quality, high cost animals and feeds, or the rancher can produce a lower quality of meat by less costly methods. The lower quality meat produced, however, commands a much lower price in the marketplace. In using either method of meat production, it is presently difficult for the rancher or farmer to operate profitably.
It is currently the typical practice to fatten cattle at feed lots. This fattening process is very expensive and results primarily in the addition of fats (not protein) to the stock animal. Thus, if a way were developed to fatten animals inexpensively, the positive economic impacts would be very significant.
In some cases, attempts have been made to upgrade lower quality meats in order to produce a better quality product at a reasonable price and thus compete more favorably in the market. These processes usually involve taking intermediate or poor grades of meat and treating them either chemically or mechanically in order to make them more similar to high quality beef.
Probably the most common type of such treatment comprises mechanical tenderization. Mechanical tenderization essentially consists of penetrating the meat product with spikes or knife blades at very close intervals. The penetration by the spikes or knife blades severs the muscle and connective tissue contained within the poor quality cut of beef. This process has a general tenderizing effect in that the tissues which would otherwise make the meat extremely tough have largely been cut. Thus, very tough grades of meat can be tenderized sufficiently to allow sale of the poor quality cut as a commercial product.
Another type of treatment, which has been particularly useful in treating poultry, comprises injection of the meat with a fluid. Such fluids may act to cure the meat, may increase the water content, or in some cases may act as a tenderizer.
Numerous types of injection mechanisms have been employed in the art. For example, some devices employ a plurality of needles which are inserted into the poultry, beef, or other meat. As the needles are removed from the meat, a fluid of a desired type is injected into the space formed by the injection needle. Using this general mechanism, however, little mechanical tenderization is provided.
An alternative method of injection utilizes a plurality of nozzles. The nozzles are connected to a high pressure source of fluid. The nozzles are pressed firmly against the meat, particularly poultry, and then the high pressure source of fluid forces fluid into the meats.
Certain refinements of the nozzle injection method have been developed. These include additional equipment such as a clamp apparatus to hold the poultry in place as the nozzle presses against the opposite side of the subject poultry during injection.
Several problems exist in both the needle injection and the nozzle injection types of apparatus. One major problem is sanitation. In both needle injection and conventional nozzle injection types of apparatus, the injection apparatus must press directly against the cut of meat involved. Any impurities that are picked up on one cut of meat are, therefore, transmitted to the next cut of meat. As a result, bacteria or other impurities that may exist at any point in the processing can be distributed throughout the entire injection processes and the meat processed can easily become contaminated.
Another primary problem in the use of an injectate in meat, particularly red meat, is that the oil or water injectate readily cooks out when the meat is cooked or processed further. This results in a large amount of liquid loss and shrinkage in the meat. In addition, it is found in taste tests that meat that has been injected actually tastes drier following cooking than similar cuts of meat that have never been injected. The consumer may actually find that the desirability of a cut of meat has been reduced as a result of the injection process.
A related matter which has had significant impact in the marketplace, and which is expected to have even greater impact in the future, is a concern over the health implications of consuming meats, particularly red meats. The American Heart Association has issued "Dietary Guidelines for Health Adult Americans" dated Aug. 19, 1986. In those dietary guidelines, the American Heart Association clearly set forth some of the perceived dangers in consuming large quantities of meats (particularly red meats).
The American Heart Association pointed out that Americans are consuming excessive quantities of saturated fats. Much of these saturated fats are in the form of animal fats consumed in meats. Having linked the consumption of large quantities of animal fat with heart disease, the American Heart Association's report states that excess meat consumption usually results in the supply of an undesirably large amount of saturated fat. The American Heart Association goes on to recommend that the consumption of carbohydrates be increased, with emphasis on vegetables, fruits, and grain sources, while the intake of saturated fat, particularly in the form of animal fat, be significantly decreased.
It is interesting to note, however, that the dietary guidelines pointed out that the consumption of unsaturated fats, particularly monounsaturated fats, appears to have no adverse health impacts. The Dietary Guidelines state in particular that "monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are equally rich in calories but have no definite undesirable effects on serum cholesterol." As a result, the guidelines placed no specific limits on the recommended intake of monounsaturated fats within the confines of the total desirable fat intake. The guidelines further pointed out that these fats may be obtained from vegetable sources, as opposed to meat sources.
It is apparent from the American Heart Association's dietary guidelines that there are new health inducements for decreasing consumption of meats. These health concerns over the consumption of meat tend to further compound the already existing economic problems of the meat production industry which has seen a general reduction of demand for red meat products.
What is currently needed in the art, therefore, are methods, compositions, and apparatus for producing meats which have reduced saturated fat contents, but at the same time are tender, juicy, and desirable consumer products. It would be a further advancement in the art if relatively low grades of red meats could be upgraded effectively and inexpensively to allow for more economic meat production.
It would be another advancement in the art if methods, compositions, and apparatus could be provided which could inject an effective injectate into meat which left the meat juicy and tender even after cooking. It would also be an advancement in the art to provide injection methods and apparatus which are sanitary and which pose no potential health hazards. Similarly, it would be an advancement in the art to economically upgrade meats with an effective injectate which also met the health concerns raised by the American Heart Association guidelines.
It would be another advancement in the art to provide such methods, compositions, and apparatus which provide mechanical tenderization and which also provide the capability of controlling the level of mechanical tenderization.
Such methods, compositions, and apparatus are disclosed and claimed herein.